STEAMSHIPS ON THE COLUMBIA

In 1866 the stern-wheeler "Forty-Nine" started regular
service, carrying thousands of paying passengers to the Big Bend gold fields.
Captain White proved that the Columbia could be navigated to the foot of Death
Rapids. Other steamships followed, hauling in addition to passengers, supplies
for railway construction and mining camps. For almost 100 years, these ships
were a lifeline to the isolated communities along the Columbia and the Arrow
Lakes.

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The solitude of the Columbia valley was rudely broken on a December day in
1865 when a steam-driven paddle wheeler appeared from the south, chugging its
way upriver. It was the American ship "Forty-Nine", which had been launched at
Marcus, Washington "by the light of some candles, and fitful glimpses of the
polar star". It was built for service on the Columbia from Marcus to La Porte,
at the foot of Death Rapids. La Porte was a community which grew to service the
placer mines along tributaries of the Goldstream River, a few kilometers to the
north. During the inaugural voyage, the "Forty-Nine " could not make her way
through the ice in the Narrows between the two Arrow Lakes, and her passengers
had to reach the gold-fields on foot. During the next season, however, Captain
Leonard White was successful in tackling the imposing rapids of the Columbia and
reaching La Porte. His policy was to charge his passengers full fare on the
upstream journey, and to allow poor miners free passage back out to civilization
"if they were truly broke". Unfortunately, the gold deposits of the Big Bend
were soon exhausted, and late in 1866, on his third voyage of the year Captain
White had only three paying passengers. Although business to La Porte dwindled,
other gold strikes such as the one on Forty-nine Creek near Nelson allowed a
continuation of service until the steamer ran aground below Downie Creek in
1869. She was patched up and continued intermittent service when there was a
demand, such as supplying Walter Moberly's survey party through the Selkirks in
November 1871.

The river remained relatively quiet for the next 14 years
until prospects again developed for upriver traffic. The impetus this time
was the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Selkirks.
The "Kootenai" was launched at Little Dalles (near Northport) in 1885 to
haul construction materials and general supplies to Farwell (Revelstoke).
Again, work was temporary, and after completion of construction in the
fall, the "Kootenai" was idled like its predecessor. The period of
inactivity, however, was relatively brief. The discovery of the Silver
King ore deposit near present-day Nelson precipitated a flurry of mining
exploration and conditions were again right for launching a steamship
enterprise on the Columbia.

With the completion of the C.P.R. mainline, the picture was significantly
altered. It now became possible to run a scheduled service from Revelstoke to
Little Dalles, essentially in reverse direction from the first two ventures. The
challenge was accepted by Fred Hume and Robert Sanderson who took on an
additional partner and in 1888 launched a small twin-hulled vessel named the
"Despatch" . She left Revelstoke on her inaugural run on August 8, 1888, and
reached Sproat's Landing (the access point to the Silver King claim) two days
later. It quickly became obvious that her design imposed limitations of speed
and hauling capacity. Sproat's Landing was named after Tom Sproat who started
farming on the site, having preempted 310 acres on May 28th of the
same year. The following year, we find G.M.Dawson doing surveys in the area and
booking passage upriver on the boat on July 9th.

The three partners of the Columbia Transportation Company had by now realized
that they could only meet the ever increasing demand by the infusion of
additional capital, and thus three additional partners were added and the
expanded venture was renamed the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company.
It was incorporated on January 21, 1890 with capital resources of $ 100,000.
Immediately, they commissioned the construction of a much larger and more
luxurious vessel, the "Lytton" for $ 38,000. Another $ 10,000 was spent in
purchasing the idle "Kootenai" and immediately putting her back into service.
The "Lytton" left Revelstoke on July 3, 1890 on her maiden run. Amongst the
dignitaries on board was William van Horne, journeying to Sproat's Landing to
check on the progress of the Columbia and Kootenay Railway which was inching its
way towards Nelson. They arrived at the Landing on July 4th, finding
a bustling community which included a government building, railway buildings,
sawmill, two stores, at least one hotel, three restaurants, and several houses.
On August 15th, Corbin's railway from Spokane to Northport commenced
operations and connections were worked out with the C.K.S.N. steamers.

Once the Columbia and Kootenay Railway was completed at the
end of May 1891, a steamer service was also launched on Kootenay Lake,
from Nelson to Bonner's Ferry. In August of the same year, the largest and
beautifully outfitted vessel, the "Columbia" was put into service on the
Arrow Lakes. Business was booming, especially after Captain J.W. Troup was
hired as general manager. Another addition to the fleet was the ungainly
but very practical "Illecillewaet", which replaced the worn out "Despatch"
on October 30, 1892. She was designed by Troup as a work horse and
especially with such a shallow draft that she would never be impeded by
low water in the Narrows. It was said "she could float on dew". New mining
developments as well as railway construction near Upper Arrow Lake kept
the fleet profitably occupied. New docking facilities were built at Robson
to take advantage of more suitable terrain than was offered at Sproat's
Landing.

All things, however, were not going well. On August 2, 1894 the luxurious
"Columbia" caught on fire south of Trail and was quickly reduced to a total
loss, only three years after her initial run. Plans were made for a replacement,
and an even more stately vessel, the "Nakusp" was launched on July 1, 1895.
Later that year, the "Kootenai" grounded on Upper Arrow Lake and was written
off. On June 11, 1896, her replacement the "Trail" started service.

Towards the end of 1896, C.P.R. started
negotiations for the purchase of the successful company. Before the year was
out, a deal was struck, and for $ 280,000 the C.K.S.N. was swallowed up by the
railway giant, effective Feb. 1,1897. In addition to the existing fleet of
vessels, C.P.R. also acquired another vessel which had been under construction
when ownership of the company changed hands. This was the "Kootenay", launched
in April 1897.

C.P.R. embarked on an aggressive program of
expansion, not only on the Arrow Lakes, but also on Slocan, Kootenay, and
Okanagan Lakes. The problem of interrupted service through the Narrows due
to low water or ice was licked when the Nakusp and Slocan Railway opened
at the end of 1897. Steamers on Slocan lake closed the gap in the rails
between Slocan City and Rosebery. On November 18, 1897, a radically
different vessel was launched to offer express service on the Arrow Lakes.
Her speed was increased by a more rounded hull design and very powerful
engines. She was the "Rossland" and she was capable of doing a return trip
between Arrowhead and Robson on the same day. The year closed sadly for
the Lake and River Service: on December 23 the "Nakusp" burnt to the water
line while at dock at Arrowhead, having been in service not quite 2 ½ years.

By this time Augustus Heinze
had completed his Columbia and Western rail line to Robson West. In a dramatic
move, C.P.R. bought out his railway as well as the smelting operation in Trail
for $ 860,000. They immediately implemented a barging service between Robson and
Robson West so that Crowsnest coal could be hauled to Trail by rail. The
"Illecillewaet" and "Lytton" were kept busy at this service until it was
replaced by a bridge in 1902.

Thus in 1898 C.P.R. confidently pushed ahead with railway
expansion westward as well as additional improvements to the steamer
service. Two steamers ordered for service on the all-Canadian route to the
Klondike via the Stikine River were diverted to the Kootenays. One of
these was the "Minto"; she joined the fleet on Nov. 19th 1898.
The culmination of C.P.R. expansion on the Arrow Lakes arrived in 1911
when the palatial "Bonnington" was launched at Nakusp on April 24.

Almost twice as large as her predecessors, she was
built exclusively to promote the tourist trade on the Arrow Lakes.
Unfortunately, the First World War soon intervened and the tourist traffic
dropped off. In 1916 the Kootenays were directly connected to the coast when the
Kettle Valley Railway started running trains from Nelson to Vancouver. Traffic
to the main line at Revelstoke dropped off dramatically. As the older paddle
wheelers ended their service periods, they were not replaced. The "Rossland"
ended her service when she sank at Nakusp in 1917; the "Kootenay" was withdrawn
from service in 1919, and the lovely "Bonnington" succumbed to the effects of
the Great Depression and was retired in 1931. Only the "Minto"'s lonely whistle
could now be heard echoing along the narrow valley. Eventually, her time too ran
out: she had outlived all of her sisters on the Arrow Lakes. On April
23rd 1954 she left Nakusp for Robson West for the last time, and her
last journey was an emotional parting from her friends along the Lakes whom she
had served so well for such a long time. John Nelson could not see her go and he
spent his meager life savings to fend off the inevitable end; but finally - a
year after his death in 1967- she was committed to the deep in a Viking funeral.

The "Minto", like her sister ships, represented a way of life and a set of
values which appear to be at odds with our super-efficient, profit-motivated
society. The ships were built to a standard of luxury which would be hard to
justify in the competitive world of today. The meals served on board were far
superior to today's standard fare and they were affordable to all. Great pride
was taken in providing a homely atmosphere and the schedules were flexible
enough to allow for adventures:

" On Saturday morning as the MINTO, with Captain Lyman Fraser in
command, was approaching Fire Valley, watchman Douglas saw two gigantic eagles
circling around a tree on the west bank. He called the attention of the Captain,
and every available fire-arm was used: the Captain, Mate and Purser, Baptiste,
who was the hero of the last eagle battle, and several others taking part. The
first successful shot was made by the Pilot, who brought down the female bird.
The male bird disappeared but Mate McCarthy put on climbers and got up the 70
ft. tree about 30 ft. when he slipped and fell to the ground, but was not
injured. Asst. Engineer Swan Peterson then tried, and succeeded in reaching the
nest. There he found a young bird which he threw down and it was captured
uninjured. Peterson's descent was the most exciting feature of the whole
adventure. When 50 ft. from the ground, his strength gave out. At that height
the girth of the tree was too great to encircle with his arms so he remained
there, helpless. As soon as his danger was recognized, all the MINTO's ladders
were lashed together end to end and placed against the tree. From the top, one
of the crew succeeded in throwing a rope to Peterson, who made it fast over a
short branch. He then slid down the rope and was assisted to the top of the
ladder and then to the ground, exhausted but unhurt."

- Revelstoke Herald, July 6th, 1905.

Another newspaper article, written before C.P.R. took over the fleet,
projects us back into that seemingly too-distant time:

" To ride on the steamer COLUMBIA, from Nakusp to Robson, when the sun
is shining and a gentle breeze flip flaps the curtains in the staterooms is a
pleasure deliciously delightful.

The officers are courteous, obliging, and handsome. Steward Thompkins
knows how to cater to the inner man, while Purser Anderson's winning ways cause
the lonely tenderfeet to think they own the boat. Up in the pilot house, we
found Captain Gore twirling the wheel, first one way, then the other, as the
occasion demanded. In conversation with him, we increase our stock of navigation
knowledge."